One of the things I looked forward to when I was planning my cancer road trip to Seattle was the planning of what I would do in the down time away from the cancer center. Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to plan with all the work I had to do at my Subaru dealership before I left town. I literally boarded the plane with only the address of my hotel, what time my three doctor’s appointments were at, and no real game plan for my downtime in Seattle.
The randomness actually started in the seating assignments. Booking the trip within two weeks of the flight left me in a middle seat flying from Atlanta. The thought of over 5 hours sandwiched between two people compelled me to play the medical sympathy card which helped me secure a window seat. Once settled into my seat I began to read Pete Wilson’s Plan B book. Reading held my attention for the first hour or so until I glanced at Delta’s flight tracking map to see how far we had traveled. As gazed where we were and we would go as we were traveling to Seattle, realized how little I have seen of this country.
Not enough personal time, too focused on career, stuck in a routine of visiting the same places because it’s easy…comfortable…and safe.
It was in this moment my cancer road trip to Seattle turned into an adventure rather than a quest for clarity in my cancer journey. Traveling to Seattle offered me a break from my routine, an opportunity to explore the city I had never visited, and a means for personal growth I would not have experienced staying home in Atlanta.
I arrived at my hotel on the outskirts of downtown Seattle mid-afternoon with the rest of the day in front of me with no doctors appointments until the morning. As I checked in I overheard a shuttle was leaving in the next twelve minutes, so I threw my travel bag into my room, and boarded the van heading to Pike Market in downtown Seattle. The market reminded me of Ann Arbor’s summer art fair with all the eclectic charm, bizarre offerings, and quirky street vendors. I resisted the urge to get a tattoo to commemorate my trip, but tattoos do seem to be a rite of passage for most Seattle natives, so being ink free certainly had me in the minority. Pike Fish Company and the Original Starbucks did not disappoint but the highlight of the trip took place the next day.
On Tuesday while travelling between the Seattle cancer Care Alliance and the University of Washington medical center, I spotted a sign for Sea Plane tours of Seattle. As luck would have it the radiology team was running ahead of schedule and I found myself with time to spare between appointments. So went back down to Lake Union so I could experience Seattle from the air and knock flying in a sea plane off my bucket list. It was the perfect day to fly and lucky for me I was the pilot’s only passenger 6 seat prop. As we flew over the University of Washington campus I thought to myself,
An hour ago I was walking around the football stadium and now I’m flying over.
Here are a few of the pictures I took to capture the experience and remember the adventure.
As I type this, I can’t help but think about what I said in a pre-blog note on Facebook about connecting the dots. Both flights, the one to Seattle and the flight over Seattle represents dots in my journey, not just my cancer journey but my life journey.
Seattle was an adventure and it provide I need less routine and more adventures moving forward.
Traveling to Seattle caused me to step out of my comfort zone and it illustrates how we all can leverage our lives by choosing to turn a negative into a positive, something I’m doing a better job now than before.
Do you have a journey or an adventure you have had on too long for far too long? Consider making break from your routine and put a date on your calendar today!
~Tom
trusting God period!
Did you know there is a way to receive Leveraging Life | Now updates via email? All you have to do is click here to subscribe. (It’s free)
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.